A Simple Conversation
by tir-synni
Summary: It didn't surprise Reno to find Cloud Strife in the remains of the old church. In fact, it was so damned cliched that he groaned aloud when he plopped beside the blond. RenoCloud


Title: A Simple Conversation  
Pairing: RenoxCloud  
Warnings: AC spoilers  
Rating: PG  
Summary: It didn't surprise Reno to find Cloud Strife in the remains of the old church. In fact, it was so damned cliched that he groaned aloud when he plopped beside the blond.

A Simple Conversation

It didn't surprise Reno to find Cloud Strife in the remains of the old church. In fact, it was so damned clichéd that he groaned aloud when he plopped beside the blond.

"Do you know when you go missing, Tifa calls _me_ to find you?" Reno complained, kicking his feet above the shimmering pool of water. He had seen that water do too much weird shit to voluntarily touch it. "Where the hell did she get my number, anyway?"

When Reno had asked _Tifa_ that question, she had brushed it off like he had never asked it and informed him that Cloud had been missing for hours. Why the hell anyone would constantly leave that woman, Reno did not know, but he _had_ known where Cloud would be. And there he had been, sitting by the water from which he had risen mere days before. Was he expecting that Cetra to rise up, too? Or maybe that SOLDIER he had been with when he had escaped from Hojo's lab? Reno didn't know and didn't care. All he knew was this shit was getting _old._

Cloud didn't look away from his perusal of the water. "Rude," he replied absently. "I think he's getting closer to asking her out."

Reno glanced disbelievingly at him. "And you don't mind him hitting on your woman?"

The laugh that answered surprised Reno and by Cloud's slight start, surprised the blond, too. A sheepish smile momentarily tingeing his lips, Cloud finally faced Reno. Unlike the Turk, the tip of Cloud's boots glided along the pool's surface. "Tifa's not my 'woman,'" he replied. This close, Reno could not miss the green tinge at the edge of Cloud's irises or the slightly angular edge of Cloud's pupils. The Planet could cure Cloud's geostigma, but it could no more wipe Jenova's taint completely from him than it could purify Sephiroth. "And she'll kick your ass for saying it."

Tilting his head, Reno studied the unusual blue eyes. As far as he knew, Cloud was the only person on the Planet who had eyes like that.

Living, anyway.

Reno made a note to mention that to Rude next time they went drinking.

"So she just stalks you for the hell of it?" Reno chuckled and leaned against the cool floor. "Interesting friends you have there."

With a roll of his eyes, Cloud turned back to the pool. "Tifa's kept an eye on me since right before I left for Midgar. She's just overprotective."

Reno snorted. "Overprotective. Yeah." His mouth twisted into a leer. "She can be 'overprotective' of me any—"

Blue eyes flashed. Reno quieted.

Cloud studied the still surface of the water. Curious, Reno leaned over. The water glittered. "What are you looking at, anyway? It's just water!" It was on the tip of Reno's tongue to say what Cloud could be looking at instead, but the redhead remembered in time to whom he was speaking and kept his mouth shut. He did have _some_ survival instincts, no matter _what_ Rude said!

"Nothing," Cloud replied blandly, neatly ruining Reno's train of thought. "It's like you said. It's just water."

…Why did Reno have the feeling that Cloud was laughing at him? Scowling, Reno stared at the water. There had to be something about it. It healed the geostigma! Not to mention Cloud reappeared here.

He still remembered watching the taint flicker and vanish from Rufus's skin. He doubted he would ever forget it.

Reno squinted. Reno leaned closer. Reno cocked his head. In one of his more daring moments, Reno even touched it, cringing as he immersed his finger in the cool water.

Nothing.

When Reno finally pulled away from his perusal, he was aware that Cloud was staring at him, amusement lighting his eyes even if it didn't touch his calm face. Reno huffed and crossed his arms.

"Be that way, smartass," Reno growled. Cloud grinned, and Reno growled again. The asshole never, _never_ smiled, and when he finally decided to show that he was human, it was at Reno's expense!

With an odd tenderness, Cloud leaned down and touched the surface of the water. It rippled away from his finger; Cloud's smile softened.

"I'll head back soon," Cloud commented, "so you can leave if you want. I'll let Tifa know that you delivered your message."

Reno snorted and brushed a lock of red hair away from his face. He remembered meeting the blond two years ago, spunky and defiant and somehow managing to defeat the greatest warrior in the world with the most ragtag bunch of misfits Reno had ever seen. From what Reno had heard, Cloud had defeated Sephiroth personally in the end.

After that, Cloud's fire seemed to . . . fade away. Reno's coaxing only seemed to push him further into his shell, like at the Healin Lodge with Rufus and Rude.

"Trying to get rid of me?" Reno mocked, leaning back against his hands. "I'm your buddy, remember?" Cloud scoffed, Reno's voice apparently breaking his reverie. The redhead frowned at him. "As much buddy as an antisocial bastard like _you_ can be, anyway."

"Watch it, Reno," the blond murmured, golden spikes hiding his face. "You're using big words."

Oooooh, Reno wanted to push him into the water. He would have, too, if he didn't fear Cloud would vanish beneath the surface, never to return. Instead, Reno plopped on his back and stared at the broken boards above his head. By some miracle, no rot showed on the boards.

Miracle. Reno laughed out loud. He laughed even harder at the bemused look on Cloud's face. "You're something else, Cloud," he chortled. Rolling his eyes, Cloud turned away, and Reno hauled himself back up so he was sitting snugly against Cloud.

Cloud stiffened and tried to edge away. Reno leaned closer. "Dilly dally shilly shally?" he offered.

Immediately, Cloud stopped. He looked at Reno as if the redhead had grown another head. "…What?"

Reno grinned. "Dilly dally shilly shally," he drawled, shifting yet closer. He carefully held his feet up above the water. "It's time to get over it already." He nodded towards the water. "Over _her_."

The look on Cloud's face softened to bemusement again. "It's not like that."

Now it was Reno's turn to scoff. "Bullshit. Why else haven't you settled down? Why else haven't you done _anything_ with Tifa yet? You're angsting _still_, and let me tell you, in a grown man, it's pretty—"

Then Cloud's mouth was on his.

For a guy Reno had thought too _frigid_ to ever get laid, Cloud Strife could _kiss_. He kissed with tongue and teeth and lips, devouring Reno's mouth and dominating him as surely as Shinra had once conquered the world. Dazed, Reno let him do it. The taste of copper seemed odd amidst the taste of saliva and flesh and oddly enough, strawberry ice cream. Reno realized what Cloud had done a second before the voices slammed into him.

Gasping, Reno broke the kiss and clutched his head, but it did nothing to drown out the voices. Soft and hard and quiet and husky and fierce, they seemed to clamor for his attention, rising and swelling and crashing like Leviathan's attack.

And then it was gone.

Reno came to himself again held tightly against Cloud's arm. "That's why I come here," the blond dryly informed him, dragging Reno to his feet. "It's . . . softer."

Smiling once at Reno, Cloud turned and started walking out of the church. Wide-eyed, Reno watched him.

Was that the voice of the Planet?

Was that . . . Jenova?

And did that bastard just kiss him?

Reno snarled and bolted after Cloud. There was no fucking way that the little shit was kissing him like _that_ and just leaving.

And there was no fucking _way_ that the bastard thought he had just won against a Turk.


End file.
